After nearly letting a seven-point fifth-game lead slip through their fingers, the ISU volleyball team escaped Hilton Coliseum on Saturday night with a 3-2 (27-30, 30-24, 30-26, 26-30, 16-14) victory over Missouri.

After jumping out to a commanding 7-1 lead in game five, the Cyclones (9-5, 3-1 Big 12) continued to roll until they found themselves in control at 14-7, just one point away from sending the Tigers (7-5, 0-3 Big 12) back to Columbia empty-handed.

While facing match point, Missouri rattled off seven consecutive points to tie the match at 14-14 before the Cyclones were able to put a stop to Missouri’s comeback with two straight points and a 16-14 win.

“We just need to learn how to finish games,” said senior Erin Boeve. “We’ve even seen it in some game threes this year, too. We just need to learn how to stay aggressive and be confident at the end of matches.”

The two-and-a-half hour shootout victory improves the Cyclones to 3-1 in the Big 12 for the first time in school history, and they hope they can learn from mistakes as they face the rest of a tough conference schedule.

“There’s no way we should let a team come back from that far down,” said coach Christy Johnson. “But it’s a good learning experience. We didn’t make good decisions towards the end; [we] did the same thing over and over, and they picked up on it.”

A season-high home crowd of 1,312 saw the Cyclone defense make the difference in the match, as they outblocked the Tigers 18.5-10.0 and set a team record for most digs in a five-game match during the rally scoring era with a total of 102.

Freshman libero Ashley Mass was one of five Cyclones with double-digit digs, as she recorded her eighth straight match in double-digits and led all players with 26 digs.

“Our defense is very big for us right now and we’re playing tough because of it,” said junior Jen Malcom. “If it wasn’t for our defense tonight, I don’t think we would have won.”

Malcom led the Cyclones at the net with eight block assists and one solo block, and was one of five Cyclones with double-digit kills.

After experimenting with outside hitter for the first 13 matches of the season, Boeve jumped back into the middle blocker position without missing a beat, leading all players with 22 kills and a .386 hitting percentage, while also notching 15 digs.

Sophomore setter Kaylee Manns also tallied 14 digs on top of 63 set assists, marking the third time this season she has scored a double-double.